Can you believe this? After 3 years I finally cooked up the courage to come back ! This year is of course special for the TSoM people, so I guess it is my little input into that celebration :) Aaaanyway, I seem to have forgotten what I had in mind with this story, so I will need ideas how to get form here. So you are all welcome to share your ideas and of course criticism and opinions are highly welcome :)

There have been days in her past, when she would get such splitting headaches that even normal human behaviour was impossible. She would cover all the possible light sources, mute all sounds and curl under the blankets without no need for anything else. However this has not happened for the last 3 years. Until today, that is. The day was glorious, one of those rare sunny ones, when there's not even a cloud in the sky, not even the breeze in the air and apparently not even a care in the children's world. So it is no surprise that those little devils were happily playing outside with the ball, their governess looking as one of the children, running and laughing along with them. Really, how she is capable of keeping up and not fell over at the end of the day is a mystery. But this joy was not long lived, when Elsa started feeling that unwelcome throbbing in her skull. Knowing well, that if she let it go untreated, it will only get worse, she excused herself from the terrace, where she and Max were spending their afternoon, waiting for Georg to return from the city.

The only thing to do now, was to try to get to her room without a lot of movement. Movement made it all worse, so none of that now, thank you very much. Finally in her room, Elsa made all the preparations needed to make her little lair of comfort and silence and curled into the little ball and slept.

And that is why now she was wandering the halls of the von Trapp Villa at around 5 a.m. Without any aim or thought she walked through the eerily silent house, amazed by its simple beauty. It was nothing like her grand house at the centre of Vienna, but it had a certain charm to it. She could clearly see, why Georg liked it so much, or how Agathe was always happy to come home after all the socializing in Vienna. Oh, dear Agathe. How everything changed. When Georg married you, you were the happiest person on earth, and so was he. The real perfect match. And look what happened after. Elsa Schraeder was not an over emotional woman, but even she missed her once best friend and confidant. All those high society balls in their youth, where they would stand somewhere together and giggle at other people antics.

Suddenly the house wasn't that silent anymore. She could hear a sound similar to sniffing coming from the second floor. Curious as what was going on she went to look at what was making that sound. Only when she got closer to the door that seemed to separate her from the sound, they opened and a little girl shuffled out. She was wiping her eyes, and not even looking at Elsa's direction. The little girl seemed to have a destination in mind. "And why do I think I know where she's going" thought Elsa. However, even knowing that the girl was probably going to her governess, Elsa followed. Maybe it was because of the time of night or her headache but she felt that she needed to be sure, that the child was alright.

"You mean…. You also have nightmares?" asked the little girl her governess.

"Of course."

"Did you just have one too? Because when I came into your room… I found you all kicking and you looked as if… somebody was hurting you… Are you really alright? I could call fath…

"NO! No, darling, I'm alright.." Now Elsa could clearly see the dishevelled form of the young governess, too dishevelled even for her. She was curious, what could have made her so. However that train of thought was interrupted by the goodnights in the room.

"Goodnight …Mother…"

Of course Elsa knew how close the children were to this young woman. But she did not realise how close. The governess seemed to be smitten with the children as well. And Georg seemed to be smitten with the girl

Out of the blue a thought struck her.